Michigan State University Athletics
Friday, March 6
Auburn, Ala.
8 PM ET/7 PM CT
Michigan State University
at
Auburn
Photo by: Kelly Lynn
No. 11 Gymnastics Heads to The Plains to Take on No. 17 Auburn
3/4/2026 3:00:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
AUBURN, Ala. -Â No. 11 Michigan State gymnastics travels to Alabama to take on No. 17 Auburn on Friday, March 6 at 8 p.m. ET inside Auburn's Neville Arena.
The meet will stream on SEC Network+ with Jeff Shearer (play-by-play) and Toi Garcia (analyst) on the call.
The Spartans are ranked 11th for the fifth-straight week in the Week 9 RoadtoNationals rankings with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 196.904. MSU wrapped up Big Ten regular season action last weekend at the Big Four Meet at Minnesota, finishing second behind the host and 13th-ranked Gophers and ahead of Rutgers and Illinois with a 196.625. The Spartans finished conference action with a 6-3 overall record to earn a spot in the Saturday evening session of the Big Ten Championships for the fifth-straight year.
In the team event rankings, MSU ranks ninth on vault (49.217 NQS), 16th on bars (49.163), 14th on beam (49.175) and ninth on floor (49.358). Individually, senior Sage Kellerman is ranked in the top 25 nationally on both vault (T-17th, 9.880 NQS) and bars (T-25th, 9.895), while senior Nikki Smith Smith (T-5th, 9.935) and junior MaKayla Tucker (T-14th, 9.915) sit inside the top 15 on floor. Smith (10th, 39.455) and Tucker (16th, 39.350) are also top 20 in the all-around.
Tucker picked up her second floor title of the season at the Big Four Meet with a 9.925, her fifth score of 9.925 or better on the event this season. Smith and Kellerman finished in a tie for second on vault (9.850) and Smith also earned third-place finishes on both bars (9.900) and in the all-around (39.450).
SCOUTING AUBURN
Auburn is 17th in this week's RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 196.464. The Tigers most recently dropped a road contest to top-ranked Oklahoma, 197.975-196.150, on Feb. 27, and hold a season-high score of 197.250 that was set on Feb. 20 against Alabama. Auburn's highest-ranked event is vault, where they sit at No. 10 nationally with a 49.196 NQS.
Saturday will be MSU's first trip to Auburn since the the Tigers hosted the 2012 NCAA Regionals (April 7, 2012), where MSU finished sixth and Auburn placed fourth. In dual meet action, the Tigers and Spartans last met on March 6, 2009, where Auburn earned a 196.575-195.275 victory in East Lansing.Â
Auburn is the second SEC opponent for the Spartans this season, having defeated Kentucky in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Jan. 10.
UP NEXT
MSU hosts Brown in its final regular-season meet on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. inside Jenison Field House for Senior Day. The meet will stream on B1G+.
The meet will stream on SEC Network+ with Jeff Shearer (play-by-play) and Toi Garcia (analyst) on the call.
The Spartans are ranked 11th for the fifth-straight week in the Week 9 RoadtoNationals rankings with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 196.904. MSU wrapped up Big Ten regular season action last weekend at the Big Four Meet at Minnesota, finishing second behind the host and 13th-ranked Gophers and ahead of Rutgers and Illinois with a 196.625. The Spartans finished conference action with a 6-3 overall record to earn a spot in the Saturday evening session of the Big Ten Championships for the fifth-straight year.
In the team event rankings, MSU ranks ninth on vault (49.217 NQS), 16th on bars (49.163), 14th on beam (49.175) and ninth on floor (49.358). Individually, senior Sage Kellerman is ranked in the top 25 nationally on both vault (T-17th, 9.880 NQS) and bars (T-25th, 9.895), while senior Nikki Smith Smith (T-5th, 9.935) and junior MaKayla Tucker (T-14th, 9.915) sit inside the top 15 on floor. Smith (10th, 39.455) and Tucker (16th, 39.350) are also top 20 in the all-around.
Tucker picked up her second floor title of the season at the Big Four Meet with a 9.925, her fifth score of 9.925 or better on the event this season. Smith and Kellerman finished in a tie for second on vault (9.850) and Smith also earned third-place finishes on both bars (9.900) and in the all-around (39.450).
SCOUTING AUBURN
Auburn is 17th in this week's RoadtoNationals rankings with an NQS of 196.464. The Tigers most recently dropped a road contest to top-ranked Oklahoma, 197.975-196.150, on Feb. 27, and hold a season-high score of 197.250 that was set on Feb. 20 against Alabama. Auburn's highest-ranked event is vault, where they sit at No. 10 nationally with a 49.196 NQS.
Saturday will be MSU's first trip to Auburn since the the Tigers hosted the 2012 NCAA Regionals (April 7, 2012), where MSU finished sixth and Auburn placed fourth. In dual meet action, the Tigers and Spartans last met on March 6, 2009, where Auburn earned a 196.575-195.275 victory in East Lansing.Â
Auburn is the second SEC opponent for the Spartans this season, having defeated Kentucky in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Jan. 10.
UP NEXT
MSU hosts Brown in its final regular-season meet on Sunday, March 15 at 2 p.m. inside Jenison Field House for Senior Day. The meet will stream on B1G+.
Players Mentioned
All-Around
/ Women's Gymnastics
All-Around
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All-Around
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